NSA denies whistleblower Snowden ‘raised concerns’ in emails

In response to a Freedom of Information request, the NSA denies that its former NSA contractor-turned whistleblower Edward Snowden ever raised concerns in emails to colleagues to his colleagues over the agency’s surveillance work.

Interest in Edward Snowden’s past email communications with his
former NSA colleagues arose following an interview Snowden gave
to NBC News in May, when he said he first raised “concerns” about
the NSA’s widespread surveillance programs, but was "more or
less" told by his superiors to "stop asking questions."

"I actually did go through channels, and that is
documented,"Snowden told NBC News's Brian Williams in Moscow,
where the former NSA contractor has received asylum. "The NSA
has records, they have copies of emails right now to their Office
of General Counsel, to their oversight and compliance folks, from
me raising concerns about the NSA's interpretations of its legal
authorities."

In a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request put forward by
VICE News following the Snowden interview, NSA officials said
they were unable to track down any internal emails at the agency
to prove that Snowden had discussed his concerns.

David Sherman, the NSA's associate director for policy and
records, described the methods the NSA used in its efforts to
locate the email: “Following the unauthorized disclosures of
NSA information in June 2013, NSA conducted a comprehensive
investigation….and searched all of Mr. Snowden’s email available
on NSA’s classified and unclassified systems,” Sherman wrote
in the statement.

“This included sent, received, and deleted email, both in his
inboxes still on the networks and email obtained by restoring
back-up tapes from Agency networks. Multiple members of the
Associate Directorate for Security and Counterintelligence read
all of the collected email.”

According to Sherman, “The search did not identify any email
written by Mr. Snowden in which he contacted Agency officials to
raise concerns about NSA programs.”

In May, however, the NSA did release a single email Snowden sent
to NSA supervisors in April 2013 in which he questioned legal
protocols in training materials.

Addressed to one of his superiors, Snowden, apparently confused
as to what takes precedence - executive orders or federal
statutes - questions the hierarchy of authority that regulates
the decision-making process.

Senator Dianne Feinstein, the chairwoman of the Senate
Intelligence Committee, said Snowden’s email “does not
register concerns about NSA's intelligence activities, as was
suggested by Snowden in an NBC interview."

Snowden fired back with a response, saying the NSA’s record of
his previous communications is incomplete:

“Today's release is incomplete, and does not include my
correspondence with the Signals Intelligence Directorate's Office
of Compliance, which believed that a classified executive order
could take precedence over an act of Congress, contradicting what
was just published."

"It also did not include concerns about how indefensible
collection activities - such as breaking into the back-haul
communications of major US Internet companies – are sometimes
concealed under E.O. 12333 to avoid Congressional reporting
requirements and regulations."

Ben Wizner, Snowden's attorney, told VICE News that the issue
over his client’s personal email communications is "somewhat
of a red herring" since "Snowden witnessed an entire
regime of surveillance and what was needed was not for higher-ups
to be aware of his concerns, but for the public to be brought
into the conversation."

Wizner said he thinks there is physical evidence to support
Snowden's claims. But he added: "Where it is, I don't
know."